John's Musings

  • New IAEA-Industry "Group of Vienna": Portolan Global's Parenthood

    by John Barrett
    The newly created “Group of Vienna”: Portolan Global’s Role    They say every successful initiative has many parents claiming it as theirs. For thi...

  • Energy Security and Canadian Foreign Policy: A Role for Nuclear Energy

    by John Barrett
    Recently the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI) published a "Policy Perspectives" paper I wrote, as part of its Canada and energy security s...

  • Post-Pandemic Strategic Planning -- the Nuclear Sector as a Best Practice?

    by John Barrett
    In a previous blog, I mused about the importance of assessing the foreign and domestic policy implications of energy technology from a strategic p...

  • Metaphor and Imagination in Energy Policy

    by John Barrett
    A few blogs ago, I described the mapmaker’s art as part of a larger social endeavour.  What strikes me time and again in looking at old maps, atla...

  • A young nuclear engineer talks about "Generation Green"

    by John Barrett
    I recently read the short presentation by Fabricia Piñeiro, a young Generation Z nuclear engineer about how her generation sees nuclear energy. It ...

  • International Diplomacy and the Nuclear Industry - A Missing Piece of the Puzzle

    by John Barrett
    Canadian Industry Delegation to IAEA General Conference - Sept 2016       Perhaps you are like me. At Christmas I always find a 1,000-piece jigsaw ...

  • How Industry Can Help Strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

    by John Barrett
    This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  The NPT bans the horizontal spread of nuclear weapons and ...

  • FRANK SAUNDERS - A friend's tribute

    by John Barrett
    I'm still reeling from the news of Frank Saunder’s sudden passing on July 4. The news didn’t reach me until a couple of days later, and I’ve spent...

  • Open Skies or "The Warsaw Pact: My Part in its Downfall"

    by John Barrett

    I was going to call this Musing “Open Skies: From Concept to International Treaty”. But Spike Milligan’s book about his time in the British Army during World War II came to mind. Largely a humorous tale of things gone wrong, interlaced with comic situations, he modestly titled his book: “Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall”. 

    So here’s my part in the downfall of the Warsaw Pact.  

  • Mapmaking as a human endeavour

    by John Barrett
    As you’ve surely noticed, there are certain nautical and map-related themes and images on the Portolan Global website. Let me tell you a bit about ...

  • Canada's civil nuclear capability - A strategic asset in foreign policy

    by John Barrett
    The global economy and energy markets are in a state of transition.  Internationally and at home there is growing concern over climate change and t...

  • The "global" in Portolan Global

    by John Barrett
    In the previous (and first) episode of John’s Musings, I spoke about where the word “portolan” comes from and why I chose it as a theme for the com...